working on my gel, ash. pluses, minuses, but progress..

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Hi everybody, Made these loafs same night. Lavender, then Autumn Woods (green). different. recipes.
1st time 33%. Like, will use going forward. Finally able to do a decent textured top.
Lavender, only minor issue, in-pot "swirl" looks more like in-pot "undecided". 33% is nice, but snuck up on me. Dam, off to "working with trace" retraining school. Unmold @ 24-25 hours. NICE. Hard, BRIGHT. Best EVER!
Autumn Woods, Unmold @ 21-22 hrs. couple sticky spots taking paper off. Soft recipe should have known better. (couldn't wait)
only issue was top. As you can see. (I am leaving the TD out next time. Going with natural color of batter next time.)
Put in insulated cooler box. These were at 121+ degrees when last checked(02:17). Before beddy bye time.
Gel? No ring, dark spots. What ever they did. I LIKE IT! Ash? Wrapped these suckers so tight. (put in your favorite image of something wrapped in saran) Here again. BEST I have ever had.
 
oops, autumnwoods3.jpg. sorry forgot pick.
 
I like the lavender one! Looks like a lavender sky to me! Very dreamy soft color.
Plastic wrap works magic for me against ash. I don't gel my soap and they rarely heat up enough so I always got heavy ash. Ever since I introduced plastic wrap to them I never had ash again.
 
Should have taken/posted this pic days ago.(der) Bar on left first batch lavender,not gelled.One on right second, tried to force gel.
Not sure if it made, you can a difference. Actually quite a difference! Looks like I have a new standard to keep. Thanks for all the replies. (not the best picture)
lavender-colors.jpg
 
Thank you that answers a question for me. was wondering how close ash and gel are related.
So ash and gel are not really related except maybe a distant cousin. Ash, is sodium carbonate. It happens when the unreacted lye in your soap reacts with the carbon dioxide in the air, this produces ash. A few things that help: Lowering your water amount, pouring at a thicker trace, and covering your soap with plastic wrap keeping the air off it for about 48 hours. Gel is when your soap gets hot and gels (almost like vaseline stage in HP soap). Gel is nice to ensure bright colors. IMO I like to gel because I can't stand the ring when the soap has partially gelled. More water, usually means your soap gets hotter quicker, goes through gel at a lower temperature and stays in gel for a longer time. Less water, soap will go through gel at a higher temperature, finish gelling quicker. If you water discount you will generally have to force gel either by a heating pad or by CPOPing. This is when you force your soap through gel in the oven after pouring the soap. Turn on the oven to its lowest temperature (mine is 170F) let it preheat, turn the oven off and place your soap inside for several hours or overnight. Some people turn on the oven light to keep the temperature up - I don't bother doing that, but it is personal preference.
 
For me, I only see pluses for gelling soap but you may not want to if you are using liquids with a lot of sugar or you want a pastel look for your colors. I gel all my soaps and I use a heating pad for the ones that won't get hot enough on their own. I tried the CPOP but didn't like the way my soap came out on top. I really think it is a matter of personal preference.
 
my thinkology has been all wrong. Made more milk soaps than water based. Read not to cover milk/anything with lots of sugar. So thought only water based recipes gelled. But they all do/could? light is getting brighter. So, depending how much heat your recipe creates naturally. depends whether you need to add extra heat to push it up to the temps it needs????? oh ya, planted tomatoes. Heating pad is mine now!
 
my thinkology has been all wrong. Made more milk soaps than water based. Read not to cover milk/anything with lots of sugar. So thought only water based recipes gelled. But they all do/could? light is getting brighter. So, depending how much heat your recipe creates naturally. depends whether you need to add extra heat to push it up to the temps it needs????? oh ya, planted tomatoes. Heating pad is mine now!
Yes! But remember, milk has a lot of sugars so milk tends to heat up soap more. You will need to water discount. Also, you may not need the heating pad, just cover your soap and wrap it in thick towels to keep it insulated. That may be enough to gel.
 
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